Monday, 24 June 2013

Kasargod MP P Kaunakeran visited the residence of Sowjanya, a student of SDM College
Ujire who was brutally raped and murdered at Pngala. The MP who met
the parents of Sowjanya assured to strive for justice in the case.

During the MP’s visit, Sowjanya’s mother Kusuma explained how her daughter who went missing on October 9 last year was found dead the next morning. She also explained how the police took the case
lightly when they had been there to lodge a case of missing. “ Had the
police launched a search for my daughter immediately, our child would have been alive,” she was choked with emotion as she said this.

She further said several political leaders including
MLA Vasanth Bangera, MP Nalin Kumar and senior Congress leader
Janardhan Poojari have met them and assured justice and that nothing has
come through."

Later, the Kasargod MP assured to collect all necessary details regarding the case and raise the issue in the Parliament and press for a CBI probe.

The Manipal University medical student, who was allegedly gang-raped
on Thursday night, pleaded with the rapists not to kill her saying she
was going to be a doctor soon.

The
fourth year medical student had written a few examinations in the
first half of June and was busy preparing for another examination that
fateful night, said an employee at Manipal University.

Meanwhile,
the victim’s mother rushed to Manipal from Kerala on Saturday after
hearing about the incident and is with her daughter now. Her father is
also expected in a day, sources said.

The mother refused to speak
to the media for reasons of privacy and since it may affect
investigations which began with the police forming eight special teams
to trace the culprits.

IGP (Western Range) Pratap Reddy said the
teams are headed by Udupi SP Boralingaiah and added that the police have
collected information about the culprits and would arrest them soon.

The
culprits were said to be familiar with the campus, according to the
police. “Two watchmen chased the auto rickshaw in which she was
abducted. The driver knew the roads in Manipal University well since he
drove the three-wheeler past Marena Indoor Stadium and FortuneInn
Valley View, skipping all the gates and barricades on the campus,”
Reddy said.

Unfortunately, the watchmen failed to stop the auto
and immediately informed the police, he said. “The auto has been
identified. All the three accused, including the auto driver are
locals,” the IGP said.

Investigations have been hampered since the
victim has not come out of the shock yet, he said. Police had to get
information through counsellors, he said and added, “We respect her
privacy and self respect.”

Various organisations held protests in
Udupi town, condemning the incident, a day after university students had
protested on Friday night.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah
directed Home Minister K J George to visit Manipal on Sunday and meet
the agitating students.

Condemning the incident, Siddaramaiah
told reporters in Bangalore that security would be stepped up in the
university to ensure safety of students, especially girls.Source: Newindianexpress